HECTOR — When Lady Wildcats head coach Kyle Russell told freshman Darci Fountain she would be the starting pitcher for Hector’s varsity softball team, she was nervous.

She had played league softball since age 8 and competitive league softball since age 10, but pitching for the high school team as a freshman is another ballgame altogether.

“Sure, I was nervous,” she explained. “But another part of me knew I could do it. I was pretty confident I could do a good job. I told myself I had played enough ball to be ready.”

Fountain has struck out 150 batters in 12 games for the Lady Wildcats. More than that, she’s a terror at the plate — batting .390 with a .612 on-base percentage and 10 RBI. Russell said it could be higher.

“She’s been getting intentionally walked lately,” he said.

For Russell, it’s good to see her succeed — it’s nice to see all her hard work pay off.

“It’s always nice to see a kid succeed when you know how hard they’ve worked for something,” he said. “Pitching isn’t just something you can pick up and be good at without a lot of extra work. Darci works a lot on her own and when I break them apart and have them go work without me watching, I never have to worry about whether she’s working hard or not.

“She always does what she needs to be ready.”

Fountain said her work ethic comes from her father, who has spent countless hours working with her in their yard, driving her to additional practices and taking her to extra lessons throughout the year.

“Dad makes me work hard for the things that I’ve learned,” she said. “He taught me that when you work hard on something it carries over.”

Fountain’s hard work carries over into her performance in game situations, but Russell said her hard work also carries over to her teammates and even himself.

“She sets the tone,” he said. “It’s a lot easier to win games when you are striking so many batters out, but when you’re winning it’s easier when the kids want to be there. It’s more fun to coach because it’s easier in practice.”

Fountain said her success is the team’s success. Without them she wouldn’t have achieved as much as she has and vice-versa.

Hector is 12-2 on the season and 4-0 in the 2A-4 Conference. With Fountain in the circle and a cast of young talented players both on the team and moving up from junior high next year, Russell sees that success stretching far into the future.

“The possibilities are through the roof,” he said. “The future for softball in Hector is brighter than ever.”